Grate.



H. BENTON.

GRATE. APPLICATION I'ILED JULY 2, 1909.

987,945, Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

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H. BENTON.

GRATE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1909.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ill l1 ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES i iuaf H. BENTON. GRATE APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1909.

987,945, Patented Man-28,1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES jaw-06M v 5%% M I/l4.

ATTORNEY.

, 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

v Patented-Mar. 28, 1911.

H. BENTON.

GRATE.

AP PLIOATION FILED JULY 2, 1909.

WITNESSES HENRY BENTON, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

GRATE.

senses;

' Specification of Letters 1 ate1it.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

Application filed July 2, 1909. Serial No; 505,561.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY BENTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of'Newdeiseyjliave invented certain Improvements in Grates, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of grates for furnaces and the likewhich are composed of a series of parallel bars which can he oscillatedwhen desired to shake the grate or to dump the fire thereon, said barsbeing of such cross-sectional shape as to vary the spaces betweenthemselves when oscillated.

The objectsof the invention are to provide bars of such cross-sectionalshape that they present a plurality of fire-supporting surfaces, anyoneof which may be used as desired; to thus enable a single grate toprovide a plurality of fire surfaces adapted to the burning of differentkinds of coal; to secure means by which the grate bars can be changedfrom one fire-supporting surface to another; to form the grate bars oftrans verse sections, each of which can-"be removed independently of therest, so that the whole grate bar need not be taken out if a portion ofit is burned out or otherwise injured;'to

secure a simple, durable and eflicient con-' struction, and to obtainother advantages and results as may be brought out in the followingdescription.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

' in which like numerals of reference indicate line 3-3 of Fig. 2,looking from the front of the furnace rearward; Fig. 4 is a detailvertical section taken centrally and longitudinally through an endportion of one of the,

grate bars and its supporting means; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2,except that it shows in full lines the grate bars in dumping position,and in dotted lines the bars in process of being reversed to bring. theother fire-supporting surface uppermost; Fig. 6 is a side View of one ofthe grate bar sections and its separable hub; Fig. 7 is an edge view. ofthe same, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow on Fig.6; Fig.8 is an end view of the said hub, detached from the grate bar section;Fig. 9 is an edge View of said hub; Fig. 10 is alside view of .a portionof the grate bar section with its hub removed, showing the seat for saidhub; Fig. 11 is a section ofa grate bar section and its hub taken online 11, ll of Fig. 6; Fig. 12 is an interior View of the side wall ofthe furnace, showing the journal supports for theends' of the gratebars, certain upper fillers being shown lifted out of their normalposition; Fig. 13 is a plan of said fillers; Fig. 14 is a detailperspective view of one of the bushings for said jour-- nal supports;Fig. 15 illustrates in side end view a shaker handle employed with mygrate; Fig. 16 is an end View of a grate bar section of modifiedconstruction in normal position upon the I, longitudinal grate barshaft; Fig. 17 shows the two parts of such modified grate barconstruction being separated for removal from said longitudinal shaft;Fig. 18 is a view of one part or half of such modified grate bar sectionfrom its inside; Fig. 19 is a View of the other part or half of suchmodified grate bar section from its outside; Fig. 20 is a View similarto Figs. 2 and 5 showing the bars of a grate in reversed position,one-half of them being in normal position to support a fire and theother half being shown in the act of dumping, and Fig. 21 is an edgeview of a certain shaking head, looking at'the front of the furnace. 1

In said drawings, 10 indicates the walls of the ash-pit of a furnace,and 11, 11 are horizontally disposed supports on the inner sides of saidwalls at opposite sides of the ash-pit, said supports providing at theirupper edges seats 12 for the ends of the grate bar shafts 13 or bushings14 upon said shafts. It will be understood that these shafts extendacross the ash-pit parallel to each other, and are of angular crosssection, not round. Upon each shaft is mounted a longitudinal series ofgratelbar sections 1,5, said sections being at their sides in such relation to each other as to give the necessary closeness or openness of afire supporting surface.

The relation of the sections of one grate bar to those of the nextadjacent grate bar is such that in a certain position they approachclosely enough to support a fire, and yetby oscillation of the gratebars spaces between can be opened up sufiicient to shake the fire oreven to dump it. Each grate bar section has two fire supporting surfaceswhich are difierent, or adapted for difierent lrinds of coal, and eitherone of which can he used as desired,

Each grate bar section 15 comprises a thin, flat casting adapted tostand transversely of a grate har, and having in its web 16 an aperture17 to receive a detachable hub 18. This huh 1.8 comprises a circularplate 19 adapted to lie against one side of the web of the grate barsection, and having a square hole 20 to receive the shaft 13. At theedges of said hole 20 the circular plate 19 has top and bottom flanges21 and side flanges 22, wiich fit in recesses 23 and or in the sidewalls of the aperture 1'? in the web of the grate har section, therecess 24; for the bottom flange 21 being cut clear through the edge ofthe web. The side flanges 22 are not as deep as the top and bottomflanges a decreased in depth upwardly or inclined their edges as shownin. lflg. 9.

it w l l oe understood that the hubs 18 are permanently upon the gratehar shaft 13,

that upon each huh a grate har section reniovahly seated. Obviously by alittle sidewise movement of the web 16 of the section away from theplate 19 of the hub, said. section can he slid upwardly, its recess 2stpassing the top and bottom flanges 216 At the upper edge of the aperture17 for the huh 18, shoulders 26 are provided upon the opposite sides ofthe web to form a broad hearing for the top flange 21, and the plate 19is notched as at 2? to receive such shoulders.

In shape each grate oar section 15 is of somewhat triangular form andprovides two symmetrically disposed side edges, each of which has theshape of an ogee curve, the upper or adjacent parts of said edges beingrounded outwardly or convex, and the lower parts curved inwardly towardeach other or concave, as shown particularly Fig, 6, Each edge providesa laterally thickened rib, and the sides of this rih are suitably cutaway or notched to permit the passage air to a. fire. it will heunderstood that either of the edges described is adapted to a fire,supporting surface, hy my invention these edges are made different oradapted to the burning of different kinds of coal. For instance, oneedge has the opposite sides of its rih provided with a se ries of smellnotches 29, so that a large nurn her of little air spaces are formed,while ee'ness rib 30 of the opposite edge is cut away continuously atits opposite sides, as at 31, so as to provide long, large air slots.

The sections 15 are arranged upon shaft 13 with their edge ribs lyingagainst one another, as shown in Fig. 1, and the end ones engage theinner flanged ends 32 of the bushings 14 for journaling said shaft, except that at one side of the furnace certain shaking arms 33 which willbe hereinafter described project from the shafts 13 between the gratebar sections 15 and the bushings 14. The flange 32 of said bushingprovides between itself and the support 11 aspace adapted to receive theslotted web 3 1 of a filler said filler having at its top a horizontalrib adapted to fill the space be tween the furnace wall and the endgrate har sections. There is preferably one tiller for each grate bar,their lines of end contact being t -shaped as at 37, whereby they lockone another in place. The front end filler is beveled. inwardly downwardits extremity 38 to allow it to be removed first and the slots 341 arecorrespondingly slant When the tiller 35 at either end bar is removed,and the bushing-1d slid away from the sections 15, looseness enough ispro vided to enable any section to he removed from its hub and a new oneinserted. in this way any damaged portion of the ate can he epairedwithout sacrificing uninjured portions. Ledges 39, d0 project inr ardfrom the front and rear walls of the furnace to fill the space betweensaid walls and the grate I have illustrated the normal position of thegrate har sections in Fig. 2, where their edges 28 are shown uppermostand in hori zontal alinen ent to form a tire-supporting surface. Thegrate bars are then shaken by turning them into the positions shownhydotted lines in said Fig, 2, and the grate is dumped by turning thegrate-hare the opposite way, into the position shown in. Fig. 5. Toreverse the grate hare, or to hring" the edges 36 of the sectionsuppermost, they are first brought into the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 5, and then tipped up as shown in 20. Preferably the gratebars are coupled up in two sets for dumping or shaking, so that half thegrate can be cleaned while the fire is relied over onto the other half.

Each grate har shaft 13 has one of the 33 upon itself and to the end ofeach arm is pivoted link 421.. To the inner sides of these links 4-1 ofone set of the hers is pivoted a rear slide as, 'and to. the outer"tilt? Each is supported at its lowe" I upon suitable anti-frictionmeans, such as flanged wheels 44, or 45, and has near the front and rearends of its lower edge inclmes or cam surfaces 46, 47, or 48, 4S),adapted to raise and lower the slide as it moves horizontally, andoperate the grate bars as hereinafter particularly described.

Each slide is operated by a connecting rod or 51 extending from itselfforwardly through a slot in the front wall of the furnace. Outside saidwall is a bracket in which is pivoted a shaking lever head 53 havingupon opposite sides of itself rear studs 54, 55 and forward studs 58, 59adapt-- ed to pivot-ally and detachably receive the forward ends of theconnecting rods 50 and 51. A stem 56 projects above the fulcrum of thebracket 52 and is adapted to receive a shaking handle 571. Vhen saidhandle is oscillated, with the connecting rods upon the rear studs 54,55, as shown in Fig. 2, the grate bars are shaken. If the connectingrods are detached from the rear studs 54 and 55 and attached to theforward ones 58, 59, oscillation of the shaking handle will dump thegrate, as shown in Fig. 5. In case it is desired to shake or dump onlyone set of grate bars, without disturbing the other set, the connectingrod of the set to be left undisturbed is detached from the shaking head53 entirely. 'Pivoted detents 57, 57 hold the hooked ends of theconnecting rods 50 and 51 upon their studs on the shaking head 53.Preferably a hood 60 projects over the shaking head 53, and in said hoodis a slot 61to allow for swinging the shaking handle, said slot beingenlarged at'its ends to permit application of the shaking handle to thestem 56 of the head 53.

With the sides 28 of the grate bars uppermost and in normal firesupporting position,

the shaking handle extends vertically up-- right and is to be pulledforward to shake the grate, as shown in Fig. 2. For dumping the gratebars, when their same sides are uppermost, the lever 571 stands in itsforwardly inclined position at the beginning of action, and in verticaluprightposition when the grate bars are swung into dumping position, asshown in Fig. 5, it being remembered that the connecting rods 50, 51have been shifted to the forward studs 58, 59, as explained above. Itwill be noted that the arms 33 on the grate bar shaft have at theirupper and lower edges projecting shoulders or lugs '65 adjacent to theirextremities which are pivoted to the links 41, and theeffect of theseshoulders or stops is to limit their angular movement of the links withrespect to the arms. The links can pro ect at the rear or upon eithersideof the arms, but cannot double'forward against the arms beyond acertain fixed angle, which is preferably a right angle. a

' Referring to Fig. 2, it will be noticed that in shaking, each slide 42or 43 first moves rearwardly upon the friction Wheel 44 or 45, and alsoupwardly by. virtue of the incline 47 or 49. The angle between the arms33 and links 41 is at the same time kept fixed by the stops65 beforedescribed, so that no bending takes place. In dumping the grate, asshown in Fig. 5, the slides move forward upon the friction wheels 44 or45, and also move upward by virtue of their inclines 46 and 48, wherebythe arms 33 of the grate bars are pushed upward into horizontalposition. The freedom of'movement necessary for this motion results fromthe links 41 connecting the said arms 33 to the slides, since each linkis pivoted at its opposite ends to an arm and slide and thus gives aflexible connection which permits a wide range of movement. (Vhen it isdesired to shift from one side or fire-supporting surface of the gratebars to the other, the friction wheels 44 and 45 are first lowered byswinging their supports 66 or 67, which are pivoted to a lower sideplate 68, rearward, as shown in outline in Fig. 5. The sl ides 42 and 43then drop to their lowest positions, with the arms 33 and links 41depending in vertical lines from the grate bars, and said grate barsbeing half-way between their two normal fire supporting positions, all.as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The bend or angle between the arms33 and links 41 are then made to project toward the rear of the furnace,and the friction wheels 44 and 45 again elevated, so that the yariousparts are in the positions shown 1n Fig. 20. The edges 30 of the gratebars are now uppermost, and yet dumping and upright position, andremovable pins 74 are inserted at the outer or front side of the wall.

a slightly different form of grate bar section, the division beinglongitudinal of the grate bar shaft. Each section 80 or 81 is a footmore or less in length and provides an outer wall 82 or 83 lying withrespect to the grate bar shaft 84 in substantially the same sur- 12'sfaces as provided by the grate-bar sections already described. From theinner side of each well 82 or 83 projectwings 85, 85 or In Figs. 16 to19 inclusive, I have shown 86, 86, which are notched or recessed attheir adjacent edges to receive the shaft 84, as:

shown at'8' 7 or 88. Two wings 85 and 86 die the bar and the sides or?the slot which term a transverse pair on the grate bar are adapted tooverlap or lie against each other, and when the sections 80, 81 areclosed together, pins .89 on one Wing enter seats in the other. @ne ofthe outer Walls, as 82, has numerous little perforations 91 to provide alarge number of small air spaces, While the other outer Wall 88isprovided with large open slots 92 to attord greater air space, andthus the tWo sides oat this term of grate bar section are adapted to beused. alternately for burning difierent kinds of coal The bars are to beshaken, and dumped and reversed in the same manner as those alreadydescribed.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim isl, The combinz'itionwith an angular grate bar shaft, bushings for the ends of said shaft,each having a cylindrical. portion and a stop at its end next the otherbudhing, supporting bear for said bushings, rate bar sections on s dshaft between said stop ones at e bushings each comprising a hub andable body portion, said sections being contiguous to each other and tosaid bushings, and removable members between said supporting bearingstor the bushings and the said end stops of said bushings.

'the combination with; rate bar shaft, ot a ot hubs slidably lo. lingsaid shaft each or arising a plate sposed trans the shaft and flan s asaid plate lon tudinally o... the shaft one osite sides thereof, gratebar 11 noting its Web slotted to stradecessed to receive said flanges ona hub, each o'tlierand said each other, removable 1 said series ctgratebar actions and series of hubs against sliding o the shaft.combination with es of hubs against rotactions each having a slott dstraddle shaft and slide onto a nub in non-rotatable engagement {he nsaid hubs engaging each other sections also our each other, able meansfor holding said series l scies or hubs K ar sections ant againstsliding on the shal ti The combination "with a grate bar shaft, ser ofremovable ate bar sections each providn g plurality of or; edges andeach comprising o receive the shaft and a lateried rib thcedges of saidWeb, a i ing a series of notches in its opi l s tor one lire-supportingedge of not being cut away at its oppothe entire interme iate portionand n see for holding said grate bar sections on said shaft.

5. The combination with a grate bar shatt, of a hub on said shaftcomprising a plate disposed transversely of the shaft and separateflanges on said plate adapted to lie against the sides of the shaftlongitudinally thereof, the flanges at the opposite vertical sides ofthe shaft being shorter than the others and having their end edgesinclined upwardly toward the plate, a grate-bar section slotted from itslower edge upvvard to receive the top and bottom and recessed atthe sidevvalls ot the slot to receive the lateral flanges, said grate sectionadapt-ed to slide onto said hub, and means for holding said grate barsection in place.

'6. The combination of a grate-bar shaft, removable grate-bar sectionsslidably arranged on said shaft, bushings tor the ends of said shafthaving an inner stop and an outer bearing portion, a suppo t bearingportions of the bush' tiller having a recessed straddle the bearingportion of and a head adapted to lie between said su port and theadjacent grate-bar section 7. The combination. "with rate se s each iii)for ea. and a tacos of a grate bar and one at the journal I supportstherefor, a reciprocating; nember,

and links each pivoted ends to said member one of sai 8. The combinationWith supporting the ends of as projecting radially from s fixed relationth reto, linlrs j arms, a shoulder on one of e ch p pivoted partslimiting angula of said parts with relation to i a reciprocatingiii-ember to which the other ends of the said links are pivoted 9. Thecombination With rotary grate 1'. bars, of arms projecting tror saiobars, hinged supports, slides u on said supports pivotally connected toditlerent eroups 0' said arms, means for reciprocating slideindependently, and means to and elevating said supports to grate bars.

10. The combination with. rotary grate bars, or arms projecting fromsaid bars,

11-. The combination with rotary grate bars and supports in-which saidgrate bars are journaled, of arms projecting one from each grate bar,slides adapted to reciprocate beneath said grate bars transverselythereof and having inclines or cam surfaces at their lower edges,supporting means for said slides, links connecting each slide toadiflerent group of grate bar arms, and means for reciprocating eachslide independently of the rest. v

12. The combination with rotary gratebars, of arms projecting from saidbars, pivoted supporting brackets, Wheels mounted in said brackets,slides upon said wheels, links connecting said slides to' differentgroups of said grate-bar arms, means groups of said arms, connectingrods each pivoted at one end to one of said slides, and having engagingmeans at their other ends,

and a pivoted shaking head adapted to detachably receive saidlast-mentioned ends of the connecting rods.

HENRY BENTON.

In the presence of ROBERT S. CHRISTIE, WILLIAM R. MATTHEWS.

